LMNO ups prod’n of web reality fare

Producer Eric Schotz’s LMNO Prods. continues to increase its supply of reality programming to CBS and to push forward with other projects, including a “minimovie” concept that’s been discussed with various parties, among them ABC.

Schotz has received an order for three more “Shame on You” specials, a reality hour that’s performed well twice previously.

The show, hosted by Cristina Ferrare and based on a WCBS-TV news segment, exposes unsavory scams and then confronts the perpetrators on camera.

The former “Eye on L.A.” producer is also working on a CBS reality pilot, tentatively titled “Beyond Belief,” that he sees as a companion to the Eye web’s midseason series “How’d They Do That?,” which LMNO produces in association with Warner Bros. TV.

Because “How’d They Do That?” details how things happen, there are “an enormous number of stories we can’t do on the show” that concern unexplained events, Schotz said.

“How’d They Do That?” has bounced around during the summer in Wednesday and Friday time periods and — with eight episodes yet to air — will likely turn up in a regular berth on the primetime lineup later this fall.

Development also continues on what Schotz calls “minimovies” or “instant movies”– a concept that grew out of preliminary efforts to quickly turn around a dramatic version of the Waco standoff for ABC.

NBC beat the Alphabet web to the punch on that story, but Schotz has amended the project and still sees a market for family-oriented, fact-based hour movies that can be produced fast enough to cash in on a high-profile human-interest story — using pre-approved writers and directors to speed up the production process.

“The popularity of reality comes down to something very simple: good dramatic storytelling,” Schotz said. “There’s a need for this type of programming.”